I've been reading the blogs of some writers that say how they use RSS/ web feeds, and how much they like using them. What I've been reading basically reinforces something I've been considering since the late 1990s: people are overwhelmed with the sheer volume of information they deal with on a daily basis.

This is at least true for those people using the Internet. Web feeds offer a simple, structured way to filter out unwanted information and to consume desirable information. The problem is that with increasing quantities of available information, we Internet users have shut down and lost our ability to concentrate on anything for very long.

Even people like myself find it difficult. Only as recently as 15-20 years ago, I used to read 3-6 newspapers daily, 2-3 novels a week, one non-fiction book weekly, and something close to 60 magazines monthly. Now, I can't get through a single newspaper in a day without sheer discpline. An informal survey of friends, family, and acquaintances shows that they are suffering from similar experiences.

For me, a feed reader makes it so much easier to browse through lots of information quickly. And in a world where the person with the most information wins, that's important. RSS readers are a boon to those of us that need to acquire information. And if more of us start mentioning web feeds at cocktail parties - the way we did for the Internet in the 1990s - this will be one of many necessary catalyzing actions towards widespread use of webfeeds.

(c) Copyright: 2005-present, Raj Kumar Dash, http://www.chameleonintegration.com/

Technorati Tags: webfeeds, content, information, reading, RSS